Elon Musk Rebukes Government Funding Claims

On Feb. 9, 2026, Elon Musk defended Tesla and SpaceX on X after a user shared a Washington Post chart saying his companies received about $38 billion in government support since 2003. Musk called that a "clown's analysis," saying such support represents under 1% of their value and that NASA will account for roughly 5% of SpaceX revenue this year; Tesla's regulatory credits generated about $2 billion last year. The comments come amid heightened scrutiny of Musk's companies.